Automated dialing systems are, in general, well known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,797,911 and 4,894,857, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention, disclose automated outbound dialing and inbound call processing system. In addition, certain other advantageous techniques are described in U.S. patent application No. 478,619, filed Feb. 12, 1990, entitled "Method For Avoiding Call Blocking", and U.S. patent application No. 533,489, filed Jun. 5, 1990, entitled "Method And Apparatus For Dynamic And Interdependent Processing Of Inbound Calls And Outbound Calls", both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present invention. These patents and patent applications are herein collectively referred to as "documents" and are herein incorporated by reference. The systems described in these documents improve the efficiency of an agent by eliminating the need for the agent to look up a customer telephone number, dialing the telephone number, waiting for the call to be answered, etc. In addition, the systems described in these documents allow certain information to be gathered without the assistance of an agent so that some incoming calls may be completely processed without agent intervention. For outbound calls the systems automatically dial the telephone number, monitor the called number for an answer and, when an outbound call is answered, automatically connect the called number to an available agent and place information regarding the called customer on the screen for the connected agent.
However, in instances where the called number is a home telephone number the desired party may not be the party who answers the phone and the agent may have to wait while the person who answers the phone locates the desired party or determines that the desired party cannot come to the telephone at that time. Likewise, if the called number is a business telephone number, the agent may be put on hold while the receptionist transfers the call to the desired party or determines that the desired party cannot be found, cannot come to the telephone because the desired party is in a meeting, etc. In such cases, the agent's time is wasted and the agent's efficiency is lowered while the agent waits for the desired party to come to the telephone or for the answering party to advise that the desired party is not available to answer the telephone.
Therefore, there is a need for a method and an apparatus which will improve agent efficiency by reducing the time that the agent is waiting and holding for the desired party to answer or for a determination that the desired party is not available.
In addition, at the end of the call, the agent may repeat to the desired party the information provided by the desired party so that the information can be verified, thank the party for his/her time or for calling, ask whether the party needs any additional information, etc. These "wrap-up" statements consume a substantial amount of time and, generally, provide very little additional information, orders, or other benefit. However, courtesy to the customer demands that these wrap-up statements be provided. Therefore, there is a need for a method and an apparatus which can improve agent efficiency by providing the wrap-up statements in a manner which provides the required courtesy and at the same time allows the agent to immediately begin handling the next call.
Circumstances occasionally arise in which the connected party is placed on hold because the connected party desires or requires the assistance of an agent and no agent is immediately available. Typically, music and/or a prerecorded message is played to the connected party. Unfortunately, the connected party has no indication of whether an agent will be available in ten seconds, ten minutes, or an hour. This leads to frustration on the part of the connected party because the connected party may prefer to call back at a later time rather than wait for an agent to become available if the wait time is going to exceed some party-defined limit. Therefore, there is a need for a method and an apparatus which notifies the connected party of the approximate wait time before an agent becomes available so that the connected party can decide to whether to hold, call back, or request a call from an available agent.